Evaluation of the Impact of a Coeducational Sexual Assault Prevention Program on College Students' Rape Myth Attitudes

The authors examined the impact of a mandatory, coeducational sexual assault prevention program on college freshmen's rape myth attitudes. Data from 174 college freshmen required to attend the program indicated that, regardless of gender, the proposed sexual assault prevention program significantly decreased participants' rape myth acceptance attitudes. Implications of the findings for college counselors and directions for future research are discussed.     

An acquaintance rape education program for students transitioning to high school

Based on Parrot's work with college students, a six‐activity acquaintance rape prevention program for first‐year high school students living in a rural South Carolina community was implemented and evaluated. The program decreased students' acceptance of rape myths compared with non‐participating students both on a scale developed by Burt and on additional items measuring acquaintance rape. Attitudes toward dating violence did not change. Research limitations are discussed, and practical suggestions for sex education are presented.     

AIDS Prevention for Adolescents at Risk

This paper describes a training program aimed at preparing 14 MSW students to teach AIDS prevention to adolescents at risk of HIV infection (i.e., increase knowledge, alter attitudes and teach risk-reduction behaviors). The majority of the students perceived this training not only as helpful in preparing them for the task at hand, but also in improving their overall social work skills and their chances to get a social work job in the future. In this paper, we also discuss problems related to AIDS prevention that arose during the training, such as rape and risk-reduction precautions and whether or not AIDS counselors should recommend taking the AIDS test.     

The Future of College Student Mental Health Care: A SWOT Analysis

Cases of rape, particularly date rape, have reached almost epidemic proportaions on college campuses throughout the country. In this article the author describes how he extended his role as a college pscyhotherapist in order to undertake activism in behalf of college date rape victims generally. The author as activist undertook two major courses of action: (1) The author as activist undertook two major courses of action: (1) Testified to the California State Legislature in support of Assemblyman Tom Hayden's bill dealing with college date rape; and (2) Appeared on a television news program that investigated the crime of college date rape. The author later utilized a video recording of the program in conjunction with a series of lectures he conducted on his campus regarding the subject of college date rape.     

An examination of the effectiveness of a sexual ethics curriculum

This article presents early evaluation data on the effectiveness of an ethics-based sex education program, the Sexual Ethics for a Caring Society Curriculum (SECS-C), which strives to develop adolescents’ thinking about sex so that they might act ethically in relation to other people and reflect ethically upon sexual messages and events in the world around them. Unlike typical evidence-based curricula that measure prevention goals from a health perspective, effectiveness was measured in terms of attitude change. Seventy-nine 9th graders from 7 diverse classrooms at a charter school received 8 lessons from the curriculum. Pre and post measures assessed belief in rape myths (the Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale) and bystanderism (the Bystander Attitude Scale, Revised (BAS-R)). The students showed improvements with regard to rape myth attitudes but not with regard to their beliefs in the likelihood of intervening in troublesome sexual situations.     

Rape Trauma Syndrome

When the topic of sexual assault is presented in high school and college health courses, it is mostly from a prevention perspective. Rarely do such courses include the mental and emotional health issues suffered by the rape survivor. Knowledge about rape trauma syndrome helps significant people in the victim's life understand the full range of reactions to the traumatic experience of rape. This lesson describes survivors’ behaviors and reactions after a rape, otherwise known as rape trauma syndrome. Included in this lesson is the federal definition of rape, a summary of rape trauma syndrome, lyrics to a song with relevant applications to the phases of rape trauma syndrome, and a rubric for grading a reaction paper related to the lesson. Three National Health Education Standards are addressed via the lesson as well.     

In Practice—Anti‐rape on the road: Men hit the highways to share a powerful message

Several years ago, John Foubert was asked to counsel one university's male students on the truth of rape.Today, he and other men are taking that truth on the road—in a used RV.     

Chapter 11 College Men and Sexual Violation:

A variety of methods are used to reduce sexual violence on our college campuses. This article discusses remedial and prevention programs designed to educate and change men's sexual violating attitudes and behaviors. A conceptual and practical guideline followed by case examples of counseling college men accused or convicted of sexual violence is discussed. Ideas and resources for sexual violence prevention programming are also provided.     

HIV post-exposure prophylaxis for child rape survivors in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: who qualifies and who complies?

OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to audit the provision and utilization of HIV post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) to child rape survivors in the Province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. METHODS: A prospective design was used to collect data from a convenience sample of 200 consecutive cases of child rape referred for medico-legal assessment to a state hospital located to the north of the City of Durban (South Africa) in the period October to December 2004. For each case, information was obtained regarding demographic characteristics of the child, the child's HIV status at presentation, any excluding factors for PEP therapy, and the extent of adherence to the antiretroviral therapy regimen. RESULTS: One hundred and twenty children (60%) qualified for PEP provision, with children being excluded because they refused initial HIV testing (1.5%), tested HIV positive at presentation (6.5%), or because of delayed (>72hour) presentation (32%). Of the 113 children who were followed through the PEP provision system, 40 (35.4%) returned for the full 28-day course, and only 4 (3.5%) returned at both 3- and 6-month follow up. CONCLUSIONS: Adherence rates for PEP therapy following child rape in South Africa are extremely low, with low adherence rates being associated with a theoretical risk of both reduced efficacy and drug resistance. In this context, there is a need for further research designed to identify the reasons for such non-adherence as well as a need for secondary prevention programs designed to both encourage more immediate reporting of child rape and to increase adherence to the PEP regimen.     

Incidence and situational factors surrounding sexual assault against delinquent youths

This study reports the results of extensive interviews with an intact sample of moderately delinquent adolescents concerning their sexual assault histories. Findings indicate a surprisingly high incidence of victimization among the females interviewed which, the authors suggest, may characterize the larger population of delinquent females. The behavioral-situational contexts of reported victimization experiences are examined for salient commonalities and the following composite rape scenerio can be cast from the data: An unsupervised, 14-year-old female, who has been consuming alcohol or marijuana, is sexually assaulted, following threat and/or force, to the point of penile-vaginal penetration, by an older male friend or acquaintance (who has also consumed alcohol or marijuana) in his home or vehicle or other place where she is inherently unprotected. Some comments are offered concerning the requirements of an effective technology of child rape prevention.     

Psychological Treatment as Part of Dropout Prevention: An Israeli Program

This article reports on the integration of psychotherapy in a comprehensive dropout prevention program developed at the Dean of Students’ office of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel. The program’s psychologists conducted psychotherapy with a subset of dropout prevention program participants who had reacted with emotional turmoil to the risk of university dismissal or whose academic status had deteriorated due to emotional problems. Although these psychologically distressed students were presumably more vulnerable than others in the dropout prevention program, with the assistance of psychotherapy their rate of retention matched that of the rest of the program participants. The article includes a detailed case study of one program participant’s psychological treatment.     

Child sexual abuse prevention programs: do they decrease the occurrence of child sexual abuse?

OBJECTIVE: The primary goal of the current study was to determine whether rates of child sexual abuse differed among undergraduate women who either had or had not participated in a sexual abuse prevention program during childhood. A secondary goal was to determine whether differences emerged in sexual satisfaction or avoidance of sexual activity between those women who had or had not participated in such a program. METHOD: Eight hundred and twenty-five women undergraduates from a New England state university filled out a survey on "sexual experiences" for research credit. Respondents were asked detailed questions regarding past histories of child sexual abuse and participation in school-based prevention programs during childhood. Additionally, they responded to questions about their current sexual satisfaction and sexual behaviors. RESULTS: Sixty-two percent of the sample reported having participated in a "good touch-bad touch" sexual abuse prevention program in school. Eight percent of respondents who reported ever having had a prevention program also reported having been subsequently sexually abused, compared to 14% of respondents who did not ever have a prevention program. No differences were found in adult sexual satisfaction or on behavioral measures of sexual activity between those respondents who had and had not participated in a prevention program. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to find that school-based child sexual abuse prevention programs are associated with a reduced incidence of child sexual abuse. Additionally, contrary to concerns voiced in the literature, there was no evidence that prevention programs are associated with decreased sexual satisfaction or avoidance of sex in adulthood. Implications of the results for further study are discussed.     

The effectiveness of parent aides in the tertiary prevention of child abuse in South Australia

A parent aide program using volunteer experienced mothers to prevent reabuse of children (tertiary prevention) has been highly successful (97% prevention) in Southern Adelaide, South Australia. The program was modeled on that described by Kempe and widely used in North America. Only minor modifications have been required to establish the program in South Australia. The outcome of the first five years' experience indicates that, despite a work load of more than 20 hours per month per client, less than 10% of volunteer parent aides withdrew from their two-year commitment to the program. The cost-benefit ratio of the program appears very low and the prevention of reabuse by mothers involved was less than that for other clients assessed by the Southern Metropolitan Child Protection Panel, which referred all cases for a parent aide in the five-year period reviewed. Difficulties in maintaining the program did arise but were dealt with by close liaison between the parent aide, the program coordinators, and the primary care worker in the community who was usually a social worker in the Department for Community Welfare. The parent aide program has proved a cost-effective and successful method of tertiary prevention.     

Improving prevention programs: first results on the relation between subjectively perceived levels of usefulness and social competencies

School-based aggression prevention programs have been implemented in many educational institutions, and fostering the development of social competencies is one of the central aspects of many approaches. The aim of the present study was to assess the level of subjectively perceived usefulness of the prevention program “Faustlos” in connection with the self-reported levels of aggressiveness and social competencies in a sample of German fourth graders. The children had completed the prevention program. Results suggest differences in the level of aggressiveness and social competencies between children with different levels of perceived usefulness of the prevention program.     

Measuring children's retention of skills to resist stranger abduction: use of the simulation technique

This paper describes an evaluation which builds upon an earlier project to measure actual behavioral change in the form of reduction of vulnerability to abduction and abuse by strangers; change attributable to participation in a primary prevention program. Simulations, life-like scenarios previously described, were used to address three key questions: Did children who had demonstrated mastery of prevention skills acquired six months earlier retain those skills? Would reteaching the prevention program result in mastery for those children who failed to demonstrate required skills after the first presentation of the prevention program? Could the experimental group results of the first project be repeated with the previous control group? Several findings validated the earlier work and enhanced the understanding of what can be accomplished through prevention programing. Thirty of the original 44 children who participated six months earlier were again available to take part in the final simulation. Of those, all of the previous experimental group children who had performed successfully when participating in the simulation upon completion of the first project were again successful six months later in resisting the invitation of a stranger to leave their school. Each of the previous control group children were successful in the final simulation after participation in the program. But reteaching of the prevention program was successful for just two of the four children who had earlier failed following participation in the program. These findings document the immediate and continued benefits which may accrue from experientially based prevention programing and suggest an important research agenda to facilitate the further evolution of prevention programing and evaluation.     

Examining the utility of a train-the-trainer model for dissemination of sexual violence prevention in schools

Rates of childhood sexual abuse are unacceptably high, with potentially long-lasting consequences for those who have been victimized. Currently, there are a number of sexual violence prevention programs that have been developed to lower rates of victimization, increase awareness, and connect victims with resources. Within this area of research, there has been less focus on effective methods of program dissemination. For example, school-based sexual violence prevention programs have had positive outcomes; however, little is known about how these programs are disseminated. The train-the-trainer model of dissemination utilizes master trainers to equip others to implement programs, thereby allowing more adults to teach and subsequently more children to receive the program. This study used survey data from teachers and other school personnel (n = 127) to analyze the utility of a train-the-trainer model of dissemination for a sexual violence prevention program in the state of Hawai’i. Through responses of people who were trained to implement the program (59.8% of whom did implement), aspects of the training, the program itself, and factors affecting whether a person implemented the program were explored. Results suggest that time spent in training, job position, and time in that position predicted whether a person trained to implement the sexual violence prevention program followed through with teaching the program to students. Additionally, 54.7% of people who did implement the program had at least one student disclose sexual violence to them, indicating the importance of sexual violence prevention programming and dissemination of these programs.     

Enhancing parental competencies for high risk mothers: An evaluation of prevention effects

A three-year study examined the effects of two prevention programs for sole-support mothers with preschool-aged children. A life-skills, esteem-building group program was compared with a group program teaching life skills combined with parent training. A non-randomized, repeated-measures design was employed with measures occurring before, after, and one year after each program for participants in the two intervention groups and for a group of matched comparison subjects. The lack of competency enhancement effects appeared to be a function of reduced exposure of subjects to the interventions. In addition, there was no support for the connection between short-term competency enhancement and long-term prevention of disorder. The negative results serve, in this report, as a cautionary tale highlighting the difficulties in conducting evaluations of primary prevention. It would appear that program planners are placed in a Catch-22 situation by trying to justify the effectiveness of primary prevention through short-term, low-intensity approaches.     

Implementation and Diffusion of the Rainbows Program in Rural Communities: Implications for School-Based Prevention Programming

Although progress has recently been made in the development of effective prevention programs for children and families, the effective diffusion of programs has received much less attention. Rural communities in particularmay face unique barriers in taking advantage of prevention programs. Through a qualitative case study of the implementation of the Rainbows program, a prevention program for children experiencing parental separation, divorce, or death, this article explores school, family, and community resources that may affect the adoption and implementation of this program in rural schools. Perspectives on these issues were shared by 21 school personnel from a single educational region in individual or focus group interviews. Based on these perspectives, a number of recommendations are advanced for enhancing program diffusion, for furthering research on diffusion issues, and for helping educational and psychological consultants bring prevention into the educational mainstream.     

~(133)Cs胁迫对转IrrE油菜生理活性的影响

以转IrrE基因油菜为材料,以非转基因油菜为对照,砂培条件下研究了油菜对Cs的积累吸收情况和Cs胁迫对油菜SOD、POD酶活性、MDA含量及游离脯氨酸含量的影响.结果表明:随着处理浓度的增大,转基因油菜和非转基因油菜对Cs的吸收量都增大,二者根部的吸收量都大于其地上部分;转基因油菜根部的积累量大于非转基因油菜根部的量,而地上部分积累量小于非转基因油菜的含量;在不同Cs浓度的胁迫下,转基因和非转基因叶片的SOD和POD活性均呈现先升后降的趋势,4种Cs浓度处理下转基因油菜活性都高于非转基因油菜;转基因和非转基因油菜叶片的MDA含量均呈上升的趋势,但转基因油菜体内的MDA含量都低于非转基因油菜;4种处理下油菜叶片脯氨酸含量也表现出上升趋势,而转基因油菜产生的游离脯氨酸高于非转基因产生的.以上结果说明在油菜受到Cs胁迫时,转IrrE基因油菜比非转基因油菜更具有Cs胁迫耐受性.     

Evaluation of a school-based sexual abuse prevention program: Cognitive and emotional effects

This study evaluated a school-based child sexual abuse prevention program which consisted of separate 2-hour workshops for children, parents, and teachers. Questionnaires concerning the children's knowledge about sexual abuse prevention and level of emotional distress were developed and administered to 88 children, ages 5-12, and 60 parents before and after the program. In addition, 12 teachers completed questionnaires about the children's level of emotional distress within 2 weeks after the program. Comparison of the children's knowledge before and after the program showed significant increases in knowledge about strategies for coping with potential abuse situations. Also individual children's responses were compared with their parents' responses. After the program the parents had a more accurate appraisal of their children's knowledge, and in addition, there was a significant increase in how much parents reported that they had talked with their children about sexual abuse. In terms of possible adverse emotional effects of the program, neither teachers nor parents noticed signs of increased emotional distress. In addition, the children reported that the program made them feel safer and better able to protect themselves. The findings support the value of providing sexual abuse prevention programs to children.